portrait of Queen Elizabeth II hangs
in Ben Stevenson’s office. But for
dance lovers in North Texas the real
crown jewel is Stevenson himself.
Though he is a member of the Order
of the British Empire, he has devoted much of his
career to elevating ballet in Texas. This year marks his
10th anniversary as artistic director of Texas Ballet
Theater, following 27 years in the same role at the
Houston Ballet. During the 2009-10 season, Texas
Ballet Theater celebrated his 40th anniversary, commending him as one of the most influential figures
in American Ballet. In August 2011 he accepted the
Lifetime Achievement Award presented at the Anaheim International Dance Festival. He also holds the
Texas Medal of Arts Award.

While audiences and critics have been singing his
praises for years, Stevenson’s greatest fans are his
dancers, who cite his ability to inspire them as artists,
entertain them with his sense of humor, and create a
family atmosphere among his company of 40 as his
greatest strengths.

“There are no divas in this company, from ap-prentice to principal,” says Lucas Priolo, who beganhis career with Stevenson at the Houston Ballet andsubsequently followed him to North Texas. “It is atestament to Ben. It starts from the top and it tricklesdown.” Priolo, who has been dancing professionallyfor 15 years adds, “I owe my whole career to him.”That kind of tenure is unusual in the world ofballet companies, where the average time a dancerspends with one company is four to five years. Aquick look at Texas Ballet Theater’s roster of danc-ers and artistic staff shows an extraordinary rate ofretention. This made for a smooth transition whenthey all began arriving in North Texas. Stevensonsays, “Artistic directors have their ways of working.This way I don’t have to re-train people. It has beenvery helpful.”“We (the company) have been working togetherfor so long,” says dancer Robin Bangert. “We’re ateam. It becomes a living, breathing work of art.”Originally from Massachusetts, Bangert went toHouston to study at the Houston Ballet’s Ben Steven-son Academy prior to joining Texas Ballet Theaterin 2004.

While classically trained, Stevenson continuesto explore new work, as evidenced by this season’sopener, Peer Gynt, a ballet that made its debut in the1980s. “It is a difficult story to tell so it took a longtime to figure it out. But it has proved to be a suc-cessful piece,” Stevenson says. Priolo, who dances thetitle role in the current production, is equally enthu-siastic. “It is one of Ben’s best. It is a full journey,”from adolescence to old age.Male dancers are particularly drawn to the workbecause, as Priolo says, “It is one of the few balletsthat is all about men.” Tim O’Keefe, the company’sassociate artistic director concurs, adding, “It’s bril-liant because it is a story that is very difficult to tell.”While Stevenson continues to add to the balletcanon, he still cites the classics as an important partof the repertoire. “Swan Lake keeps the company ingood shape,” he says. “But you have to grow the au-dience in order to move on.”And so he continues to balance the new with theold. Audiences perennially enjoy his Nutcracker andcan look forward to a new production this holidayseason. Stevenson also enjoys the Tchaikovsky classic“because the children on stage are performing for thefirst time, and the children in the audience are oftenseeing ballet for the first time.”

In addition to this traditional holiday production the company also performs The Nutty Nutcracker. While this “adult parody of the classic ballet” is
another Stevenson brainchild, he wholly credits the
company for putting it together every year. He says,